MTN’s Nigerian licence renewed for $94bln
MTN Group said on Tuesday that the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) had approved the renewal of its digital mobile licence and extended it until the end of August 2021 for a fee of US$94.2 million.
The company has been reeling since October 26 when the NCC fined it US$5.2bn for failing to disconnect up to five million unregistered SIM cards. The group’s shares declined sharply in morning trade on Monday, forcing the JSE to suspend trading for a few hours.
Nigeria’s telecoms regulator had come in for harsh criticism, at home and abroad, for the record fine and for giving MTN two weeks to pay it.
A statement from MTN on Tuesday said the sum of US$94.2 million was payable for the five-year extension by no later than the end of December this year and, importantly, was conditional upon MTN fulfilling all its regulatory obligations. - ANA